


Under My Wing

by AlexIsOkay



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-05 07:22:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11573181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexIsOkay/pseuds/AlexIsOkay
Summary: Remember that scene in the Love Live School Idol Movie where Maki and Tsubasa are writing a song together and it gets gay? Like, so gay it makes Nico jealous as she watches through the window? That scene sent me into the depths of this rarepair hell, but since any sort of content for this ship is so non-existent I finally said "Screw it, I'll write the fic myself." This'll be a bit of a slow burn, so be prepared for that going in. Hopefully in writing this I'll manage to convert some of you, and then I won't be the only one shipping this damn ship anymore.





	1. Chapter 1

The little fast food restaurant in the center of the city was quiet. In fact, aside from a single girl sitting at one of the booths, it was entirely empty. Maki Nishikino had a lot of questions for herself at the moment, but perhaps the most prevalent was something along the lines of “Why am I sitting here in a fast food restaurant, alone, at 9 pm on a school night, eating something that I know will make me sick?” Maki wasn’t even generally a fan of fast food, or anything nasty or greasy like this. She’d grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth, eating dishes that the average person probably couldn’t even pronounce the name of. But every once in awhile… She just wanted a greasy fast food hamburger.

Lately, Maki had been feeling exhausted. She loved μ's with all hear her heart, she really did. But spending every day at practice and every night working on new songs, spending so much of her time surrounded by people who were as energetic as Honoka and Rin, or as downright draining to be around as Nico, it was no surprise that Maki would feel the occasional bit of burnout. And sometimes the best way to deal with that burnout was by taking a personal trip to a fast food joint so she could pig out on food that she knew would make her feel like crap come morning. If Umi were here Maki was certain she would be getting an earful about dieting and healthy eating habits, but fortunately that wasn’t something that she had to put up with at the moment.

Maki’s thoughts were interrupted by the quiet humming noise the automatic doors made every time that they opened, and purely out of instinct she found herself looking towards the source of that sound. It was at that point that her heart basically jumped out of her chest, and she found herself staring at someone that she was positive she recognized. Even if Maki had never seen her before in person, she had seen enough A RISE posters and videos to not have a single doubt in her mind. She was looking at Tsubasa Kira.

Before Maki knew it a few seconds had passed, and she suddenly realized that she had been staring that entire time. The only saving grace was the fact that Tsubasa hadn’t seemed to notice her. At this point Maki absolutely didn’t want her to either, and she was quick to duck her head down, staring intently at her food as if it were the most important thing in the world to her while Tsubasa went up to the counter to order.

As Maki sat there with her head down low, her mind was filled with a number of questions. First and foremost, she had to wonder what Tsubasa was doing there so late at night. It didn’t seem like the sort of place that she would expect such a famous and popular school idol to be, and while Maki did have to admit that she wasn’t in much of a position to criticize, it still seemed different. A RISE was so much more popular and famous than μ's, and based off of that alone Maki would expect its members to hold themselves to a higher standard than the members of μ's held themselves to.

That lead into her second question, though… Would Tsubasa even know who she was? μ's had been getting a fair bit of attention recently, certainly, but they still hadn’t achieved anywhere near the same level of fame that A RISE had. When she also took into consideration how many other school idol groups were constantly popping up all over the region, it almost seemed certain that someone like Tsubasa wouldn’t have the time to spend keeping track of every single one of them. Maki assumed that she was probably barely anything more than a blip on the radar to the members of A RISE, if that. She was about to be proven wrong, though.

“Miss Nishikino?” Maki practically jumped out of her seat when she heard that voice speaking to her, and she looked up from her meal to see Tsubasa standing right there in front of her, holding a tray with a burger and fries while wearing her UTX uniform. It was all such a bizarre, unexpected sight to Maki, and that only made it even harder for her to process what was happening, or formulate a response.

“Apologies if I startled you,” Tsubasa added on, before Maki even had the chance to say anything else. “I saw you from up front, though, and I had to be sure that it really was you."

“It’s alright,” Maki replied, forcing herself to regain her composure while she spoke. She might not have had nearly the same level of reverence for A RISE that Honoka would have, but she still realized that she might as well have been in the presence of royalty, at least as far as the school idol scene was concerned. “You didn’t startle me. I do have to admit, though, I’m a little surprised that you know who I am.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Tsubasa replied, a friendly smile crossing over her face as she spoke. “You’re the composer for the fastest rising school idol group in all of Japan. I would be lying if I said we weren’t keeping a close eye on you. Do you mind if I sit here?” she asked, gesturing to the empty space in the booth across from Maki.

“N-No, that would be fine,” Maki replied, giving a small shake of her head. Stoic as she tried to act, it was impossible for her not to let those compliments get to her when they were coming from someone like Tsubasa. She was honestly embarrassed by just how unexpectedly starstruck this whole encounter was leaving her, but at the very least Tsubasa didn’t seem to mind. The other idol slid into the seat across from Maki, placing her tray down and carefully beginning to unwrap her burger.

“I don’t normally eat like this,” Tsubasa said, which came as no surprise to Maki, “but every once in awhile you just need to let yourself have something that’s bad for you, you know?”

“I understand,” Maki replied, with a small nod of agreement. “Believe me. This isn’t the sort of place I would typically be eating either. But… It’s been a long couple of days.”

“Oh?” Tsubasa replied, quirking an eyebrow in curiosity when she heard that. “Is something the matter?” It was at that point that Maki was suddenly reminded of the fact that, while every member of μ's certainly looked up to and admired A RISE, they were technically still rivals as well. With that in mind it didn’t necessarily feel right to be talking about any of the negative aspects of being in the group, no matter how minor they were, and she simply dismissed the question with a brief wave of her hand.

“It’s nothing important,” she insisted. “Just some extra stress at practices recently. I don’t mean to be complaining about it.”

“It’s quite alright,” Tsubasa chuckled back. “Even when A RISE has been doing what it’s been doing for as long as it has, I still feel the stress of it all sometimes. I can imagine it only gets even worse with a group that’s growing as rapidly as you are.” Maybe it was foolish for Maki to think that A RISE was somehow perfect, that they wouldn’t feel all the same stress that she and the rest of the members of μ's felt, but it was still odd for her to hear Tsubasa admit to something like that so openly. They had only been talking for a minute, and already she felt like her expectations about what this girl would be like were being proven to have been wildly inaccurate.

“Is that something still you tend to worry about? Keeping up with practices and maintaining your popularity?” Maki asked, earning a simple nod in response from Tsubasa.

“It’s something every school idol worries about, I’m sure,” she replied. “In fact, I think those sorts of worries probably only tend to grow stronger the more popular you get. The more fans you have watching you, the more you have to worry about not letting anyone down.” That was a scary thought, and apparently the moment of concern that it caused Maki was written on her face, because a moment later Tsubasa laughed softly again, speaking up once more. “Sorry. I don’t mean to make it sound like it’s some sort of terrible thing. If fame were that bad A RISE wouldn’t still be doing what we do.”

“Why is it that you keep doing it then?” Maki asked. She caught herself slightly off guard with that, the question leaving her mouth before she even had a moment to think about it, or about why she was asking it. Apparently Honoka was rubbing off on her. She was constantly talking about what it meant to be a school idol, and about the reasons they all did what they did. As much as Maki liked to pretend that sentimental crap like that wasn’t her style, apparently some of it had left its mark somewhere along the way. Tsubasa didn’t seem to mind the question, though.

“Well,” she hummed, holding a half-eaten fry up to her mouth as she thought it over. “If I’m being completely honest, it just started out as a little passion project of ours. Erena-chan, Anju-chan, and I… We all thought that it would be a fun hobby. I don’t think we ever expected to become nearly as successful as we are now. But as we built up a fanbase, and as more and more people started following us, we felt good about the fact that we could bring that sort of happiness into people’s lives. So we stuck with it. And now… We’re here.”

As she listened to Tsubasa speak, Maki was struck by just how perfect that answer was. It was modest and humble, and entirely selfless. It placed focus on the fans, attributing A RISE’s success to them, and it put the happiness of others’ on a pedestal above all else. It was exactly the sort of answer that Maki would expect from a school idol with as much practice and experience as Tsubasa. But now she was going to get to put her own skills to the test as well.

“Let me turn the same question around on you,” Tsubasa said, a playful smile tugging at her lips as she leaned in a bit more across the table. “What is it that drives μ's? And what caused you to join them in the first place?” Maki’s answer was, unsurprisingly, not nearly as rehearsed as Tsubasa’s and she found herself struggling to put her exact thoughts into words as she tried to explain it.

“Well…” she started out, breaking eye contact to look down at her tray as she spoke. “I’ve always had a passion for music. I’ve been playing the piano and composing songs for as long as I can remember. That’s why Honoka-chan approached me to join μ's in the first place. I’ll admit that I was hesitant at first, but… She can be persistent.” That was probably the most polite way to put it. “Stubborn, hard-headed buffoon” was what Maki had wanted to say, but at least she had the restraint to bite her tongue when in polite company.

“That’s a quality of a good leader though, isn’t it?” Tsubasa asked, almost as if she were able to read Maki’s mind, and to sense the composer’s vague frustration. “If she knows how to motivate people I’d say she’s doing her job well.”

“She’s not exactly our leader. We don’t have a formal leader,” Maki replied, although even as she said that she found herself doubting the words. Sure, Nico was technically the club president, and Eli was the one that often took charge during practices, but… It was almost like an unspoken agreement among μ's that, at the end of the day, Honoka was their leader. Maki certainly felt that way, and she was pretty sure the rest of the members did as well, even if they had never openly acknowledged it.

“Oh, my apologies,” Tsubasa chuckled, putting a hand over her mouth to politely quiet herself as she laughed. “I guess I just assumed. That’s the vibe that your group has always seemed to put off.” Hearing that from someone else only confirmed Maki’s belief that Honoka really was seen as the leader, although she refrained from commenting on it.

“It’s alright. I can see why it would be an easy mistake to make,” Maki replied, deciding to leave it at that. In another moment Tsubasa was crumpling up the wrapper her burger had come in and was stuffing it into the empty fry carton, apparently finished with her meal much faster than Maki was. She looked ready to leave, although before she did so she reached into her pocket, sliding her phone across the table towards the other girl.

“I’m afraid I can’t stick around for very long right now,” Tsubasa said. “I’m in a little bit of a rush. If you don’t mind, though, you should put your number in there. I would hate for this to be the last time I get to talk to you.” While Maki had gotten better at not acting completely starstruck over the course of their (admittedly somewhat brief) conversation, this was enough to shock her all over again. Having a chance meeting with Tsubasa was once thing, but the thought of Tsubasa actually wanting her number so that they could stay in touch? That was a shock to Maki, and she didn’t hide it very well at all.

“O-Of course,” she replied, making sure to wipe her fingers on a napkin several times over before picking up Tsubasa’s phone and entering her name and number into it. When she was finished she slid the phone back over, and Tsubasa took a quick glance at it before tucking it back into her pocket.

“I’m glad I got to run into you like this, Nishikino-san,” Tsubasa said as she stood up from the booth, taking her tray with her. “Even if it was unexpected, it was nice to have the chance to talk to you. Hopefully we’ll get to see each other again soon.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it, Kira-san,” Maki replied. She gave a small bow of her upper body as she watched the other girl walk away, still a bit awed by the entire fact that that had actually just happened. She was going to have one hell of a story to tell at practice tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

“No way! You seriously met her in person??” Maki winced at that reaction, not only because of the volume, but because of the fact that Honoka ended up so close to her face while asking the question. In fact, the first year suddenly found herself leaning back an inch or two, simply to put more distance between herself and the other girl.

“It’s not that big a deal!” Maki huffed, although Honoka had apparently decided otherwise. And from the looks on the faces of the other μ's members, all of whom were gathered on the rooftop in their workout wear, and all of whom had immediately turned to give her their attention upon hearing that she had met Tsubasa the night before, it seemed that they all agreed with their unofficial leader on this subject.

“It’s absolutely a big deal!” Hanayo chimed in, and suddenly Maki found a second girl invading her personal space, standing right next to Honoka and leaning in just as uncomfortably close as the first girl was. “A RISE is the most popular, most famous school idol group in the entire country right now, and as their leader that makes Kira-sama the best of the best! You were in the presence of school idol royalty! You have to tell us everything!”

“You’re making a mountain out of nothing!” Maki insisted. She tried to take a few steps backwards to put some distance between herself and the other two girls, but that was distance that they easily covered again, staying just as close as they had been before. “I was sitting around in that little burger place near Akihabara and she happened to be there too.”

“You were at a fast food restaurant?” Maki was momentarily relieved to hear someone other than Honoka or Hanayo talking, although when she looked over to see Umi glaring daggers into her that relief immediately faded. “You know that sort of food is terrible for your figure.”

“I had one burger!” Maki protested. “I’m not going to gain weight from that!”

“Keep telling the story!” Honoka cut back in. “She was in the restaurant and you went up to her and introduced yourself, and then what?”

“Well… That’s the thing,” Maki said, shaking her head. “I didn’t do that. She’s the one that came up to me.” And just like that she was being crowded by a third girl, Nico piling on behind Honoka and Hanayo and leaning in between their heads.

“Hold on, are you saying she recognized you?? Does she know who we are??”

“I- Yeah,” Maki stammered out. “She said A RISE has been watching us.” Honoka, Hanayo, and Nico all gasped in unison when they heard that, and even the other girls who weren’t crowding Maki seem surprised to hear it as well.

“A RISE knows who we are??” Hanayo squealed. “They’ve been watching us??”

“What did she have to say about us?” Honoka eagerly asked. “Does she like us? Is she a fan?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t ask!” Maki blurted out, growing increasingly overwhelmed from all the scrutiny she was under. “She… Seemed impressed by how quickly we’ve become popular. And she wanted to know more about us, and what motivates us.”

“You didn’t tell her anything important, did you?” Nico demanded. “You’d better not have given away any important secrets!”

“What secrets do we even have for me to give out?? I told you, we didn’t say anything serious,” Maki huffed. “We just chatted for a little bit and then she asked for my phone number and left.”

“She asked for your phone number?” Nozomi hummed, standing at a much more respectable distance than the three other girls were. She had a thoughtful smirk on her face, crossing her arms in front of her torso and touching a finger to her chin while she spoke. “My, I didn’t expect Kira-san to be that forward. When are you two seeing each other again?”

“W-What are you talking about??” Maki blurted out in response, a bright flush quickly finding its way to her face. “I-It’s not like that!”

“It’d better not be!” Nico warned. “She’s our rival! You shouldn’t be fraternizing with her like that!”

“It didn’t seem to bother you a moment ago, Nico-chi,” Nozomi teased. “Are you sure rivalry is the only reason that idea bothers you?”

“Shut up!” Nico huffed, pivoting to face Nozomi, adopting a wide stance and stomping her foot onto the ground for emphasis. “For all we know the only reason she was even talking to Maki in the first place was to try to squeeze information out of her! If Kira texts you,” Nico said, turning her attention back towards Maki, “I expect you to ignore it!”

“I’m not just going to stand her up!” Maki protested.

“Stand her up?” Nozomi giggled. “Very interesting choice of words.”

“I didn’t mean it like that! You put the idea in my head!”

“Alright, that’s enough nonsense.” Eli was finally speaking up, and Maki couldn’t have been more thankful for it at the moment. As much as Eli had been enjoying watching this little scene play out, they had come up to the roof for a reason. “We should get started with practice. After all, now that we know A RISE has their eyes on us, we’ll have to work twice as hard to make sure we can live up to whatever expectations they might have. It won’t do to start slacking off and failing now.”

“That’s right,” Umi agreed.  “Everyone take your positions so we can start.” Maki breathed out a quiet sigh at the fact that the subject had been successfully changed and the attention had been diverted away from her. If she were ever trapped in a burning building, she was now confident that Eli and Umi would come back for her, whereas Nico would be the one pouring more gasoline onto the fire.

Still, as she took her place in the group’s formation and started going through the steps, she had to admit that some of the things that had been said were weighing heavily on her mind now, from both ends of the spectrum. Nico’s concern that Tsubasa was trying to squeeze some sort of valuable information out of her was likely nothing more than paranoia but Maki still couldn’t ignore it entirely. And at the other extreme, she was sure that Nozomi’s joke about her having a date with Tsubasa had beenj ust that, jokes, yet she couldn’t shake that thought from her brain either. Thanks a lot, μ's.


	3. Chapter 3

“I think practice went really well today! Don’t you, Maki-chan?” Maki didn’t understand how Rin could possibly stay this energetic after dancing around in the hot sun for two hours straight, but somehow the girl proved to be an endless wellspring of enthusiasm, even on the most exhausting days. Maki couldn’t say the same for herself.

“I don’t see how it was any better than a normal day’s practice,” she replied as the pair of them walked down the street. In fact, with the way things had started out, she would argue that it was notably worse. Rin didn’t seem to feel that way at all, though.

“Those new steps Kotori-chan showed us were incredible, nya! Didn’t you think they were cool?”

“Were they really anything that special? “Maki grumbled. “It’s not even a full routine yet. Just a couple of moves that she wanted to show off.”

“But everything’s gotta start somewhere!” Rin insisted. “You can’t have a full dance until you have all the steps in place!”

“I… Guess so,” Maki reluctantly admitted. She was about to say something else when she was interrupted by a soft buzzing noise coming from her bag. Reaching down inside of it she dug out her phone, flicking the screen to life and freezing in her tracks when she saw what it displayed.

“Exactly! So before we can- Huh?” Rin cut herself off mid-sentence when she realized that Maki was no longer walking alongside her, looking back over her shoulder towards where the other girl was frozen. “What’s wrong, Maki-chan?” she asked, rushing over to peer down at the screen and read the message that it showed.

“ _ This is Kira. I really enjoyed meeting you last night, Nishikino-san, and I’m sorry that we couldn’t chat for longer. If you’re not too busy this weekend, I would love to meet up with you again. _ ”

“Oh my god!” Rin squealed, grabbing Maki by the shoulders and starting to shake her excitedly. “She actually texted you! You have to text back! What are you gonna say?? Are you gonna go out with her??”

“C-Cut that out!” Maki huffed, shoving Rin away from her. “And stop making it sound like a date!” After successfully pushing Rin off she looked down at the message she had received once again, reading through it several times over. She was struck by the perfect spelling and grammar, given that so many other people her age would have sent a message riddled with slang and abbreviations, but somehow that felt right coming from someone like Tsubasa. She had to wonder whether that was how the girl normally typed, or whether it was just a carefully manicured part of her idol persona. Then again, Maki had a hard time thinking that anything Tsubasa did could possibly just be part of an act. It all felt far too genuine to her.

“Well don’t just stand there staring at it!” Rin insisted, starting to creep back into a zone that Maki felt was undoubtedly within her own personal space. “Text her back!”

“What am I supposed to say?” Maki huffed, before realizing the mere fact that she was taking this long to figure out how she wanted to reply probably betrayed the cool, aloof personality that she worked so hard to give off.

“Just tell her that you’d love to hang out with her! There’s nothing hard about,” Rin said, before gasping loudly as a devious smirk spread over her face. “Unleeeeeess… You’re nervous,” she teased.

“I- Well of course I’m gonna be a little nervous!” Maki admitted. “She’s way more famous than any of us. I still don’t get why she’d even want to hang out with me in the first place.”

“It’s not that hard!” Rin insisted. “Just text her back telling her that you’re interested! I’ll help you if you get stuck!” Maki let out a small sigh, feeling that she was going to regret letting Rin meddle, but it was still probably better than simply not responding at all.

“Fine,” Maki sighed, an obvious note of reluctance in her voice as she pulled up her keyboard and started typing out a reply. “ _ It was a pleasure meeting you as well, Kira-san, _ ” Maki began to type, before her phone was nearly ripped from her hands by Rin.

“No way!” the other girl protested. “That’s way too formal! You sound like you’re thanking her for a job interview! Write something more casual, like, ‘It was nice.’”

“Are you seriously going to micromanage me like this?” Maki huffed, although she was already in the process of going back and fixing what she had written. “ _ It was nice meeting you as well, Kira-san. I’m not doing anything Sunday, so if you’re free then I’d be happy to do something together. _ ” Maki felt that her message achieved the right level of politeness and formality without sounding stiff or reverent, and as she looked up at Rin the other girl gave her a small nod to confirm that the message felt appropriate. Taking a deep breath to fully steel herself, Maki pressed the send button.

“See?” Rin said, tossing her arms around Maki and hugging her tightly in her excitment. “That wasn’t hard at all, nya!”

“Stop crowding me!” Maki protested, once again trying to push Rin away. Rin seemed even more determined to cling to her this time around, though, and Maki found it much harder to break free from the grip. However, within seconds her phone was going off again, Tsubasa apparently not requiring the same amount of time to plan her messages that Maki had taken.

“ _ That sounds perfect. I’ll meet you by Akihabara Station around 2? _ ” Somehow reading that message suddenly made everything feel much more concrete to Maki. Having Tsubasa say she wanted to meet up with her was one thing, but having her actually offer a time and a place suddenly made it feel so  _ real _ . Maki was so caught up in dwelling on this that she apparently took too long for Rin’s patience yet again.

“Text her back!” she urged. “Tell her that sounds good!”

“Alright, alright, I’m going!” Once again Maki pulled up her keyboard, starting to type out another reply. “ _ I’ll be looking forward to it. _ ” Just as before, Maki waited until she had Rin’s stamp of approval before hitting the send button.

“I can’t believe this!” Rin hummed excitedly. “You just made plans with Kira-san!”

“It’s seriously not a big deal,” Maki insisted, for what felt like the hundredth time. “I’m sure if you’d been the one to run into her in that restaurant you’d be the one making plans with her instead.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t nya!” Rin giggled. Maki was about to tuck her phone away when it lit up one more time, showing a final text from Tsubasa.

“ _ Likewise, Nishikino-san. _ ” There really wasn’t anything to read into there… So why did Maki find herself reading into it so hard anyway? When she looked up from her phone Maki found that Rin was already starting to skip off down the street again, and so she shoved it into her bag before taking off after her classmate. For once in her life, she was sort of thankful for Rin’s boundless energy. Maybe it would provide a good distraction at the moment, and keep her from obsessing over the texts she had just received. As unlikely as that seemed, she could hope.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to this Daring!!/Shocking Party mashup pretty much nonstop while writing this chapter, it seemed thematically appropriate. Do yourself a favor and listen while you read:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKETMLgs770

Maki was nervous. Unbelievably nervous. More nervous than she felt like she had any right to be. She stood outside Akihabara Station, just as she and Tsubasa had agreed. It was incredibly crowded at this time of day, with a constant stream of people moving past her while she stood against the wall, getting on and off of trains and disappearing out into the city. Glancing up at the large clock that hung over the station Maki checked the time yet again: 1:57. Three more minutes. She had already been standing here for fifteen.

Maki hadn’t been quite sure what to wear, and she had put more thought and effort into figuring that out than she would care to admit. That was part of the reason she actually enjoyed having school uniforms so much; she didn’t have to waste time standing in front of her mirror trying to piece together an outfit. She got enough of that with some of the fancier parties that her parents dragged her to. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have to go through that process every single morning.

Today, though, she had actually needed to try. She she was torn on what to wear, and she was stuck between not wanting to seem so formal or dressed up that she would give the wrong impression while also not wanting to seem disrespectful by not dressing up enough. She had even considered texting her friends on a few occasions, thinking that Eli or Nozomi might be able to give good advice, but she had quickly decided against that. In the end she had settled on an outfit that was just a bit more formal than what she normally would have worn on a day out, wearing a nice skirt and top with a necklace while hugging a thin jacket over her body to stave off the slight chill of early spring.

As each minute passed Maki’s eyes continued to scan the crowd, trying to pick out Tsubasa. A vague sense of anxiety was starting to nag at her brain, making Maki wonder if she had somehow gotten the wrong place or the wrong time, despite the fact that she had read that single sentence text over and over again close to a dozen times. Finally, precisely as a the display ticked over to 2:00, Maki saw that familiar face appear in the crowd. She had been brought up in a world where it was rude not to be at least five minutes early for everything, but she also had to admire Tsubasa’s exact punctuality.

As Tsubasa emerged from the crowd Maki suddenly started to think that maybe she was a touch overdressed after all. Tsubasa looked great, certainly, but the sweater and shorts that she was wearing at the moment didn’t convey quite the same level of formality that Maki’s own outfit did, and suddenly she just found herself hoping that Tsubasa wouldn’t think it was strange.

“It’s good to see you Nishikino-san,” she said as she approached, wearing that familiar polite smile on her face that Maki was already getting so accustomed to. The only thing she wasn’t sure of was whether that was all part of Tsubasa’s persona, or whether it really was genuine.

“Not at all. I just got here a minute ago myself,” she lied. Somehow saying that she had arrived eighteen minutes early seemed just a touch embarrassing.

“How have you been?” Tsubasa asked. Polite small talk. This was something that Maki was good at. Better than having an actual conversation, probably.

“Well enough. The other μ's members freaked out when I mentioned meeting you,” she admitted. “They’ve been talking my ear off about it nonstop since then.” This earned a small giggle from Tsubasa, who put a hand to her mouth to stifle it.

“Let me guess,” she replied. “Yazawa-san in particular has been asking about it?”

“I- Actually, yeah. How did you know that?” Maki asked, a little throw off by the accuracy of the statement, as if Tsubasa had been there at practice watching it unfold.

“Intuition, I suppose.” Tsubasa was still laughing softly at this point, deciding that now wasn’t the appropriate time to mention the growing pile of fan mail and gifts in the A RISE clubroom, all of it from Nico herself. “Have you eaten, Nishikino-san? If not, I thought we could get a late lunch together.”

“Not since breakfast,” Maki said, shaking her head. “I could go for food.” Just as Tsubasa left out the details about Nico’s fanmail, Maki left out any details about how the reason she hadn’t eaten lunch was because her stomach had been doing somersaults all day long, and because breakfast had already barely stayed down.

“There’s a good tonkatsu place not far from here, if you’re interested,” Tsubasa said, already starting to walk down the street while motioning for Maki to follow her. “Come on!” Maki gave a quick nod as she fell in beside Tsubasa, not at all surprised that this girl knew the city better than she did. Maki had been here quite a few times before, of course, but UTX was located right in the heart of Akiba. It made sense that Tsubasa knew her way around.

As they walked towards their destination there was one thought that was still heavy on Maki’s mind, and while she was quiet for the first few moments, she figured she might as well just throw it out there. “Was there a particular reason you wanted to see me today?”

“Hmm?” Tsubasa asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked back over towards Maki. “What do you mean?”

“Well… I’m not sure,” Maki admitted. “I just thought there might have been something important that you wanted to talk to me about, or something like that.”

“Can’t I just spend an afternoon wanting to get to know you?” Tsubasa replied almost immediately, as if she had already had that answer prepared. “You strike me as interesting person, and you seem like someone I might have a lot in common with. I was sad that our last conversation was cut so short, so I wanted to fix that.” Maki was struck by that answer, mostly because it was so bluntly honest. She couldn’t imagine ever saying something like that herself- even around her close friends, it could be hard for her to really express that she saw them as anything other than a nuisance most of the time. The thought of coming right out and saying “You’re interesting and I want to get to know you better” to someone… She would probably sooner die than do that.

“Well… I guess so,” she eventually said, still a bit thrown off by just how upfront Tsubasa seemed to be about this topic. And once again, before Maki even had the chance to say anything else, Tsubasa seemed to be inside her head.

“You’re not a very open person, are you, Nishikino-san?” Maki was struck by a moment of shock when she heard that, followed by embarrassment when she realized Tsubasa had actually called her out on it. She could feel a faint flush coming to her cheeks, although the air was brisk enough that she could probably blame it on that believably enough.

“So what if I’m not?” Maki replied, breaking eye contact with Tsubasa and looking off to the side. “I prefer to keep things to myself. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I didn’t say there was. Simply an observation.” As soon as she said that Tsubasa stopped in her tracks, and as Maki looked back over she realized that they had already reached their destination. Tsubasa really hadn’t been lying when she had said that it was close by. The third year was already getting the door, holding it open and stepping aside while gesturing Maki through. “After you.”

“...Thanks,” Maki murmured quietly, stepping past Tsubasa and into the restaurant. The smell of food hit her immediately, and she suddenly became aware of just how hungry skipping lunch had actually made her. Tsubasa came in behind her, walking past Maki and up to the host.

“Two,” she said, raising two slender fingers. The host nodded, bringing them towards a table in the back and seating them there. While the restaurant was a bit busy, thanks to the fact that it was a Sunday, the lunch rush had died down, and they weren’t nearly early enough to catch the dinner rush. Because of that Maki and Tsubasa were afforded relative privacy, which was something that Maki was grateful for. While she had never really worried about being recognized in public herself, she knew that Tsubasa was much more well known, and the last thing she needed was the thought that someone might be watching them while they ate.

“Have you ever been here before?” Tsubasa asked, taking a seat across the table from Maki.

“No,” Maki replied, shaking her head. “I haven’t.”

“You won’t regret it,” Tsubasa promised. While Maki was opening up her menu, she noticed that Tsubasa was simply sitting there. Based off of that, she could only assume that the other girl had already been here so many times she knew precisely what she wanted to order. “Let me know if you need any recommendations,” Tsubasa added on a moment later, flashing a wink towards Maki while the first year looked at her menu. Maki’s face immediately flushed at that, and she quickly hid herself in her menu to shield herself from further embarrassment.

Soon enough Maki had set her menu down, and the two girls had placed their orders. At that point they were left sitting there again, and Maki was desperately looking for topics of conversation as they waited for their food to arrive. “You asked me a bit about μ's last time we saw each other,” she commented. “But… If it’s alright with you, I have some questions I’d like to ask about A RISE as well.”

“Of course,” Tsubasa replied, leaning in on her elbows while she spoke. Not so close to Maki that it was uncomfortable or awkward, but enough so that it made the conversation feel more friendly and personal, rather than stiff and formal. “What’s on your mind?”

“You’ve probably been asked this a lot,” Maki admitted. “But… Why do you think you’ve managed to be so successful? What is it that sets A RISE apart from everyone else? It’s clear that everyone in μ's really looks up to your group, but I think we all tend to wonder how you became so famous.” Tsubasa smiled when she heard that, with that knowing sort of smile that made it seem like the question was, in fact, something she had heard a number of times before.

“I think there are a couple of reasons for that,” Tsubasa replied. “Part of it is thanks to Erena and Anju. They’re two most dedicated, hard working people I’ve ever met, and I don’t think A RISE would have been possible with anyone else. But if I’m being completely honest… I think a large part of it was luck as well.” Maki was a bit startled to hear an answer like that, and the surprise was visible on her face, although Tsubasa was quick to explain what she meant. “UTX is an excellent school, and practically from the first moment we formed A RISE we had their support. Any time we wanted to use the auditorium for practice, we were permitted to do so. When we were registered as an official club we were given a very generous budget that we could spend on costumes and any other supplies we needed. Once we started growing popular enough we were even given flexibility with our schedules, so we would have more time to practice and perform. If it weren’t for all of the support the school gave us along the way, we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are now.”

“That does sound fortunate. It’s pretty much the opposite of the history μ's had.” That statement confused Tsubasa, and she tilted her head in curiosity when she heard it.

“The opposite? How so?” At that point Maki tensed, realizing that this maybe wasn’t public knowledge outside of μ's, and that maybe she shouldn’t have been sharing it. It was a little bit late for her to take it back now, though.

“Well, I wasn’t there for some of this,” Maki admitted, qualifying the story before she began. “But I’ve heard Honoka tell it quite a few times. According to her, before Eli actually joined μ's, she was strongly opposed to having a School Idol Club at Otonokizaka. She attempted to block it as Student Council President, and even after the club was formed she looked down on us as amateurs.”

“Because of her ballet background?” Tsubasa asked. Maki nodded, impressed that Tsubasa actually knew that. Apparently she hadn’t been lying when she said that she had been keeping an eye on μ's. “It’s funny how those sorts of things can change,” she commented. “I can’t say A RISE had any experiences like that, though. Erena, Anju and I have all been together from the beginning. We didn’t pick up more members along the way like you did. If I’m not mistaken, though, Ayase-san isn’t the only one with a classical background. You’re trained in piano, aren’t you?”

“How do you know all of this?” Maki finally had to ask. “Has this seriously all turned into public knowledge?”

“You mean you didn’t realize?” Tsubasa had to chuckle softly at that, seeing a shred of the same naivety she herself had felt when she had first become an idol inside now lingering inside of Maki. There was something a bit nostalgic about it. “Ever since μ's started gaining popularity, there have been a lot of eyes on you. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your privacy is more or less forfeit at this point.”

“I’m not sure how to feel about that,” Maki mumbled. At that point she caught sight of their waiter out of the corner of her eye, thankful for the fact that food was finally arriving. She was still starving, and her stomach had been giving off low rumbles for a while now. Tsubasa hadn’t seem to notice, or if she had she had been polite enough not to comment on it, but Maki still wanted to get some food in her before it became too loud. As the the waiter approached and set the food down in front of them Maki immediately became even more hungry, mouth watering at the sight and the smell. Fortunately she had good manners, and she wouldn’t be the sort of person to pig out on a meal even if she didn’t have company.

“I told you that you wouldn’t be disappointed, didn’t I?” Tsubasa commented.

“I haven’t even tried it yet,” Maki protested, looking down at the plate in front of her and reaching for her chopsticks. She took a bite immediately afterwards though, and she had to admit that it was as good as Tsubasa promised. Or maybe that was just thanks to the fact that she was starving.


End file.
